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PM covers a broad spectrum of issues relevant to all sections of Australia's geographically and culturally diverse community. It looks behind political, economic, industrial, business, social, cultural, rural, regional and arts stories. Below is the program summary with links to transcripts and audio (if available).

British-American alliance splitting, says expert

Britain's decision to start laying out a timetable for the withdrawal of thousands of its soldiers is already at the top of the news agenda in the UK, where they're just starting the day. But it will also put a match to the already tinder dry political debate about Iraq, both here in Australia and in the United States. As many as 1,500 British troops could be out within months, and half of the entire British contingent in southern Iraq will be back home with their families for Christmas. Some reports say the plan is to have them all gone by the end of next year. But what will matter most is why this is being done. Already British newspapers say the country's generals believe their troops on the ground in Basra are "unnecessary" and even "provocative."

PM plays down British troop withdrawal

And despite the confidence of the British newspapers in reporting the phased withdrawal, the pull out, whatever you want to call it, here the Federal Government has been quick to insist that Britain will not be withdrawing from Iraq. The Government says Britain's reduction of troop numbers has no implications for Australian forces in the south of the country. The Prime Minister says Australia's contingent of 550 soldiers cannot be reduced, because that would cause it to fall below a critical mass. But the Opposition leader Kevin Rudd is using the impending Blair announcement to call again on the Prime Minister to explain his Iraq exit strategy.

Analysing the impact of a UK withdrawal from Iraq

At the height of the invasion in 2003, 46,000 British troops were deployed in Iraq. The 7,000 remaining today are concentrated mainly in the south-east as we've heard, around Iraq's second city, Basra. Barbara Miller has been looking into what impact a partial withdrawal of those troops might have.

Interest rates rise more likely than fall: RBA says

MARK COLVIN: Anyone who thinks the Reserve Bank won't lift interest rates during an election year is crazy. That's the way the Bank's Governor Glenn Stevens put it today, in an appearance that may well give the Government the jitters. After the Reserve Bank issued its most recent statement on monetary policy, most market economists had assumed that rates were on hold. Some said they'd be steady until after the election, and some that the next move would most likely be down. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens told the House of Representatives Economics committee today that rates were still more likely to rise than to fall.

Rann, Beattie set out water demands

An agreement between the states and the Commonwealth, over the Federal Government's $10-billion Murray-Darling plan, looks as elusive as ever tonight. South Australia's Premier Mike Rann now says he doesn't expect the states to sign-off on the deal until at least April. That would appear to dash the Prime Minister's hopes of doing a deal with the State Premiers at a meeting this Friday. Victoria's Premier Steve Bracks has proposed his own plan to put the competition regulator, the ACCC, in charge of regulating the water market. But today Mr Rann, and Queensland's Premier Peter Beattie failed to back Victoria's plan. They wrote to the Prime Minister setting out their own, different, list of demands.

El Nino declared over

Well there is the prospect of some good news on water for drought-stricken farmers and beleaguered state and local governments with empty dams, relief may soon be at hand. The Bureau of Meteorology has declared that the El Nino which has made the drought so much worse for the last year or so has passed. The Bureau says it's time to be optimistic about drought-breaking rains, although the drought is far from over yet. A senior climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, Grant Beard, spoke to our reporter

Commission hears Burke employed ex-senator to lobby MP's

The Corruption and Crime Commission in Western Australia has heard how the former Premier Brian Burke employed the former Senator Noel Crichton-Browne to lobby Liberal MPs on his behalf. The Commission is looking into whether improper influence from lobbyists caused public officers to engage in misconduct. The focus has lately been on activities surrounding legal action taken against the state by victims of the finance brokers scandal. The Commission has already heard secretly recorded phone calls during which a minister gave details of cabinet discussions to Mr Burke. Today the Commission heard more about the unlikely alliance that's been formed between Noel Crichton-Browne who was expelled from the Liberal Party in the 1990s and Brian Burke, who was gaoled for rorting travel expenses.

Report claims sexualisation of girls is pervasive and damaging

A major investigation in the United States claims a constant bombardment of images and products sexualising girls has damaged a generation of women. The study by the American Psychological Association has found a pervasive culture that focuses on women's' bodies. And it says more young women are developing depression, eating disorders and reduced cognitive skills as a result. The report's authors say the media, retailers, manufacturers, artists and parents must act now to reverse the trend. But experts in Australia say young girls here are increasingly resistant to a culture that celebrates image over substance.

Australia urged to sway Philippines on killings

"Extrajudicial killings" is one of those terms like "ethnic cleansing" which many suspect are deployed to blur a nasty reality. It describes what happens when a country's military or police go round killing people illegally. In the Philippines, a United Nations investigation has damned the government and the military for hundreds of such killings over the past six years. Australian Philip Alston led the investigation. His initial findings reveal that the military is responsible for many deaths, but that the senior leadership is in a state of denial. And with the Australian Defence Forces and the Philippines armed forces negotiating a closer defence relationship, he says this country has an opportunity to do something about it.

NSW Govt sorry for Sydney transport meltdown

They were ships that passed in the night, but they put Australia's biggest city into gridlock. Sydney's transport system went into meltdown last night under the pressure of huge crowds who flocked in to see a rare meeting of the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth 2 in Sydney Harbour. Roads were choked and ferry, bus and train services overwhelmed as thousands of people tried to get home. Radio hosts have been grilling officials and ministers and with an election just weeks away, the Government's been in grovel mode.